Sir Sandford South Couloir first ski descent in Canada by Mark Herbison, Josh Lavigne, Christina Lustenberger

Sir Sandford: the highest peak in the Selkirk Mountains. It sits at 3519m and can be seen from many vantages around the interior ranges.

It became part of my vision when I first moved to Revelstoke in 2008. I was hot off the racing circuit and diving head first into backcountry skiing. Seemed only natural to be drawn to the highest mountain in the area. It has two skiable faces, the north and south. The north had been skied, and the south was still waiting for tracks.

In February 2012 Troy Jungen, Rob Martin, and Doug Sproul skied down the beautiful south face. This is when I began to dream of the south couloir, a beautiful ribbon of snow guarded by the grey marble rock on the south face.

I too wanted to ski off the summit, and only dreamed of writing my tracks in this peak’s history. I tried many times, approaching from different sides, spending multiple days attempting it, but never syncing with the perfect conditions.

On February 13th conditions were as perfect as I could imagine: going high pressure after a small amount of new snow, and staying cold enough to climb & ski this thing in dry powder conditions. We flew from Golden and set up a base camp near the base of the line. That night the temps dropped to -17, confirming our confidence to climb the south face in full sun.

On February 14th Mark Herbison, Josh Lavigne and I left camp at 7am by headlamp and climbed up swapping leads and enjoying the sunrise on the ascent. We climbed free to the top & once out of the couloir we continued up the long summit ridge splitting the north and south with its sharp edge. The Selkirk & Rocky Mountains layed away against the perfect blue sky. We transitioned on the summit and skied our way back down the ridge.

Entering the top of the couloir the line rolled over into what felt free hanging. Committing to the steepness, we skied a nice long pitch to the anchor I built on the way up. We rappelled a 30m choke, and continued the rest of the line in two long pitches. 1100m of 45-50 degrees skiing made for a stunning position carved away in the marble stone.

It was the perfect day in so many ways. Thanks to Mark Herbison for being such an amazing mountain partner. Thanks Josh for the ninja camera skills, and joining us onslope!

by Christina Lustenberger